By Definition
by sunrise over boston
Summary: A series of drabbles where everybody learns how, exactly, to open themselves up for joy. Multiple characters and pairings, but lots of Kurt/Blaine.
1. the one with blaine's puppy

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything you recognize.

**A/N:** This story is going to serve as a place for me to stash Glee fics too short for their own post. Probably will be updated once a week or so, because I have a lot to clear off my hard drive. :)

* * *

"I think my mom has empty nest syndrome," Blaine groans as soon as the Skype screen finishes loading.

Kurt, drained after a day of classes, bites back his sarcastic _hello to you too_and decides to appreciate the sound of his boyfriend's voice, even if Blaine is whining. Adjusting so his laptop rests comfortably on his stomach, Kurt asks, "How can she have empty nest syndrome if you're still at home?"

(_Especially since _she's_ never home to deal with an empty nest_, is another comment Kurt keeps to himself, because it's an old fight.)

"I think it finally hit her that by this time next year, I'll have been in New York for a month and a half."

Kurt's stomach flutters at the idea of seeing Blaine every day, without dealing with laggy Skype connection. And, even in his distress, Blaine smiles a little, because 10 months and 2 weeks is totally insignificant compared to a lifetime together. The thought makes Kurt want to kiss his boyfriend badly, damn all the jail-bait jokes that are thrown his way.

("Kurt, babe, are you sure this kid is a senior?" asked Ruby from his Intro to Design class, "He looks younger than my 10-year-old brother."

And Kurt, who thought it would be terribly Midwestern of him to mention how all the kids in New York looked and acted about a decade older than they really were, just snatched back the picture of Blaine dressed for his first day of school and insisted that they focus on their sketches instead.)

"Kuuuuurt," Blaine whines, "You're not listening to me in my hour of ne- Jesus Christ! Stop that Charlie! Bad boy!"

Kurt watches in confusion as Blaine disappears off screen. Something crashes to the ground and Blaine yells something muffled but unpleasant. Then there's this terrifying high-pitched wail and by the time Blaine gets back, Kurt's connection is lagging like hell as his boyfriend holds what appears to be an emotionally distressed blob.

"Blaine," Kurt says slowly, in contrast to how he's rapidly shutting down every other program he has running, "What is _that_?"

Skype starts to run smoothly again and Blaine has settled down the blob, which is not really a blob at all but a puppy. When he speaks, Blaine mentally congratulates for keeping his voice calm, even after he had to wrestle a hell beast away from the memory book Kurt gave him. "This would be Charles Barkley. Charlie for short. He's my mom's answer to an empty nest."

In his mind, Blaine fantasized that, even with the distance between them, Kurt would be able to sense the pure evil radiating from Charlie. Or at least commiserate in the fact that Blaine's mother intended to replace him with a_ pug_. Instead, hearts suddenly appear in Kurt's eyes and he squeals.

"Oh my god! Blaine, that dog is absolutely precious. Pose so I can get a screenshot, okay?"

In the picture (which becomes Kurt's desktop background), Charlie has his tongue lolling and is breathing weird dog breath all over Blaine, who forces a smile. It lasts for about thirty seconds after the picture is taken and then Blaine has to disconnect, because Charlie interpreted the photo op as a  
sign to pee all over the bed.


	2. the one with bros watching chick flicks

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything you recognize.

**A/N: **Based on a prompt from a friend, Finn/Puck: brotime.

* * *

"I'm glad we do this," Finn said, "I asked Kurt once, but he just laughed at me."

Puck snorted and tossed back a handful of popcorn. "That's because he'd rather be macking on his boy while he still can."

Finn made a face at that. There was no way that Kurt would skip bro time with him to hang out with Blaine. Probably. Besides, he and Blaine are bros now and thinking of his friend bro making out with his real bro made Finn's head hurt. It's probably because he used the word bro too many times in one thought. He socked Puck in the shoulder, just for good measure.

"Shut up and watch the movie," Finn snapped, "We already missed the part where Noah and Ally first meet."

Puck rolled his eyes and focused on the movie again. Once, in middle school, they had agreed to go to the Sadie Hawkins dance with two girls who also happened to be best friends. The girls had insisted that they needed to spend time together before the dance to 'let the relationships blossom'. What actually happened was that Puck made out with his date on the couch while Finn and her friend spent an awkward 194 minutes holding hands on a shared bean bags.

The relationships had fizzled out once the dance had passed, but that awkward afternoon had brought something to life in Finn. He liked chick flicks. A lot.

"This doesn't make me less of a dude," he had said, panicked, when Puck came over unannounced and caught him watching _Time Traveler's Wife_ with teary eyes.

Puck had raised an eyebrow at that, but still nodded and crashed on Finn's bed until the movie was over. They had an epic Halo tournament after that, not discussing the movie at all. The next time they hung out at Puck's he pulled out a copy of _A Walk to Remember_. Finn had inhaled sharply, ready to be mocked thoroughly, but Puck just started the movie without another word.

At first the movie nights were unplanned and they kept them a secret. Except once they started glee club and started getting in touch with their feelings or whatever, Finn and Puck started to make time for a chick flick marathon once a month. Mike found out somehow and asked to be invited whenever they watched something that involved dancing. Slowly, chick flick movie nights became the best kept secret of the glee club guys and finding out about them meant you were part of the team in the same way being slushied did.

A thought stuck Finn like a bolt of lightening and he paused the movie. Puck tossed a handful of popcorn at him, but Finn ignored it. He was, like, 80% sure he was having one of those epiphany things and it was _weird_.

"What if Kurt doesn't come to bro movie nights because he doesn't feel like a real bro?" Finn asked, concern clear in his voice.

Puck rolled his eyes again. "Dude. He hates being a bro and you know it. Let it be."

Finn stated to say something else, but then there's a polite knock on his door. As he hurried to get it, Puck turned off the TV screen, because no one was supposed to be crashing today's showing of _The Notebook. _For good measure, he also hid the bowl of popcorn under Finn's bed and tossed the box of precautionary tissues across the room. There was another, less polite and more urgent knock on the door. Puck gave a thumbs up to show the coast was clear, so Finn opened up.

Blaine stood in the hallway, flushing red and avoiding eye contact. He fidgeted with the open collar of his shirt, which was weird, because Finn could've sworn that he had worn a bow tie to school today. Which was whatever, because Finn was having another great idea. If he gave Blaine the chick flick initiation, then maybe Kurt wouldn't hate being a bro so much. Finn was about to invite him in for the movie, but Blaine cleared his throat and started to talk first.

"Kurt sent me to ask you guys to turn down the movie. And he, uhm, also asked me to say that you have to be quiet if you're going to cry at the end, because it's a mood killer," Blaine raised his hands, looking miserable, "His words, not mine."

Finn stood stunned for a couple of seconds. "You know about the lady movie hang outs?"

"Yeah. Kurt told me about them when we were at Dalton."

Blaine looked as embarrassed and Finn felt the sharp sting of betrayal. It would have been so _awesome _to have introduced Blaine to movie nights properly and make their bro circle complete. And then they could have passed it on to him and Artie for next year and-

"Bro," Puck called, "Just close the door. We need to finish this movie and let our boy get his sexy time on with Hummel."

Turning a whole new shade of red, Blaine gave Finn a desperate look. "We're not doing that. Don't tell Kurt that I told you we were, because things are still kind of weird and it's hard to schedule make out sessions when you're always home and-"

Finn dropped both hands onto Blaine's shoulders, considering the other boy solemnly. "Fact: bros do not cockblock each other. Even if actual brothers are involved."

Whenever Blaine smiled at him, Finn always worried his face would explode or something. Except it doesn't and Blaine gave him a fist bump before hurrying back to Kurt's room. Dropping back onto the bed, Finn turned the movie back on and raised the volume. (Even if a bro doesn't cockblock, he reasoned, that didn't mean he had to listen in).


	3. the one where kurt and blaine paint

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything you recognize.

* * *

It's far from finished, but Kurt and Blaine still step back to admire the nursery's paint job.

The color is a soft green that they both had picked out ages ago, but neither one had been brave enough to buy the cans until last week. That's when the adoption agency called and announced, after careful review of their applications and home studies, Kurt and Blaine were approved to go on to the next stage. All they needed now was to find a birth mother and they were set.

"I can't believe this is happening," Blaine says, goofy grin splitting his face.

He looks ready for a lazy weekend: the NYU shirt he's in wearing is speckled with paint and his unshaven face scratches when he leans in to kiss Kurt. And Kurt doesn't seem mind it, but he also doesn't let the kiss go farther than a peck.

Not even twenty minutes ago, Kurt was in his element: painting insanely fast for how neat his work was and giving Blaine a half-serious lecture on why they definitely could not have sex in the nursery. Now, he's quiet and a little glassy-eyed as he stares down the wall of_ Peas in a Pod_. Blaine frowns, touching the small of his husband's back. "What's wrong?"

"I can't stop thinking about Quinn," Kurt whispers, as if he's confessing his sins.

"Like, Quinn from high school?"

Kurt nods and that makes Blaine's frown deepen. They haven't seen Quinn Fabray in years. Hell, the most contact they've had since he came to New York was on Facebook. She never responds to Blaine's game requests, but always comments when old videos of New Directions' performances start making the rounds.

"Quinn is the one who got pregnant my sophomore year," Kurt explains when it's clear that Blaine isn't getting it, "Then, senior year, she decided to try and get her baby back. What if that happens us?"

Blaine doesn't have answer.

Sure, they've heard about adoptions that go wrong: birth mothers changing their minds at the last minute, blood relatives coming to whisk children away from adoptive parents, and all the other Baby Jessica style horror stories. But that's the kind of thing that happens to other people, not to Kurt and Blaine.

His chest tightens and it's suddenly a little harder to breathe. Blaine wants to assure Kurt that it can never happen to them, because they've had more heartache than anyone in their mid-twenties deserves, with their families and coming out and every other obstacle in their relationship. Eventually, it should get easier for them to just have a normal life.

But Blaine's mouth and mind are traitorous, the first staying silent while the second fills with images of the nursery staying empty forever or having their future baby (who is already perfect and so, so _loved _in his mind) taken away. All at once, the green of the room makes him feel sick, because Blaine knows if anything were to go wrong; it would serve as a daily reminder of what could have been.

"I'm scared," Kurt says, looking at Blaine with wide eyes and a streak of paint running along his cheekbone.

Gently, Blaine traces the line of paint and kisses Kurt's forehead. He's scared shitless too, but he can't say that now. Later, when they talk about it again, (and he knows they're going to spend sleepless nights on this topic) Blaine will share all the worries that are overflowing in his mind right now. But that's later and right now he's got to be the supportive, cheery husband that Kurt needs.

"We'll be okay," Blaine promises and, even though it sounds empty to his own ears, Kurt is smiling again.


	4. the one where dave feels sick

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything you recognize.

**A/N: **Deleted scene from a Dave-centric fic I'm working on. This contains several characters expressing homophobic feelings through slurs, so be warned.

* * *

Dave found out what it meant to be gay in middle school, which is not-so-coincidentally when he joined junior tackle football and learned what it meant to have a jersey.

Suddenly, he was expected to hang out with the guys from the team on the weekend, playing video games and cracking jokes in the coolness of someone's basement. And that was no great sacrifice, except for the rare times when someone would sneak in beer and he'd make up an excuse for not drinking.

"My mom would kill me," Dave said, "She'd make me quit the team."

And the guys had let him off with a couple of insults about how only queers were afraid of their moms or about how his mom hadn't been so tough when they were plowing her the night before. The first time it happened, Dave had gone home and googled 'queer', feeling his stomach sink like a stone. His mom had mentioned _those _types of people to him, once, when they were on a vacation.

Dave was seven and they were at Disney World, waiting in line to get a picture with Donald Duck. His dad was buying them lunch, because the line was stupidly long. Dave remembered the humid heat of Florida and sunburn blooming on his face. He held his mom's hand, because he wasn't old enough to be ashamed of it yet and two men walked passed them. Dave doesn't know what made him look up at them.

One man was laughing, his head thrown back and the sound rich and full. The other guy was red, either from the sun or embarrassment, but still smiling. They stopped maybe three feet away from Dave and his mother, and he realized the guys were holding hands. The red-faced man leaned in toward the other one and they kissed, a quick peck like Dave had seen his mom give his dad every morning as she left for work.

He didn't get to see what happened to the two guys after that, because his mom pulled him away so hard that it felt like Dave's arm was going to fall off. Mom muttered under her breath, "Sick. This is a family place and they let queers make a scene like that."

This was the memory that hit Dave Karofsky full force as he sat in front of the family computer. Eventually, he heard the garage door opening and logged off, sprinting to his room and crawling under the covers. After a while, Dad came in and asked why he was in bed at four in the afternoon. Dave forced a cough and said that he doesn't feel well. Gently, his father leaned in to kiss his son's forehead, which is how he's always taken Dave's temperature. His son flinched away.

"You okay, kiddo?" Dad asked, eyes worried.

In the past two months on the football team, Dave has learned that crying is strictly for girls, fags, pussies, or some combination of the three. So, he swallowed the lump in his throat and said, "Yeah. Just. Could you use the real thermometer?"

His dad nodded but looked at Dave with concern for a long moment before going for the thermometer. When he returned, Dad informed him that his temperature was a perfectly normal 97.8. Dave still missed school the next day, because he wound up throwing up the dinner that night and wasn't able to explain why.


	5. the one after prom

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything you recognize.

**A/N: **Post-episode fic. I had a lot of mixed feelings about 'Prom' and apparently so does Kurt.

* * *

They're back in the hotel room, curled up on the bed in their respective prom gear.

At first, Kurt had planned on bringing Blaine back to his place, but that's where royal couple were heading and he _really_didn't want to hear Rachel gush about how amazing it was to be prom queen anymore. There's only so many times he can pretend to be jealous that her tiara was prettier than his, ignoring the dull ache that had settled in Kurt's chest during the crowning and still wasn't gone.

"You're thinking so loudly, I almost can't hear the TV," Blaine says. "Kiss for your thoughts?"

And it's not like he really needs permission, but Blaine still waits until Kurt nods to press messy kisses to his boyfriend's neck. Kurt sighs happily, resting his hand at the nape of Blaine's neck. The hair there really is baby fine.

"Don't get me wrong, I had fun at prom. I just don't understand why Figgins found it necessary to acknowledge the one year anniversary of my humiliation."

Blaine considers this as he sucks gently at Kurt's collarbone, finally saying, "My hair isn't the only reason I didn't want to go to prom."

Kurt knew this already. Even if it's never been for more than a few seconds, Kurt has seen snatches of Blaine's ungelled hair whenever they spend the night together. He's also seen the scar on Blaine's wrist where doctors inserted a pin to put the bones back together post Sadie Hawkins. Kurt runs a hand through Blaine's hair once, trying to memorize how soft and curly it is when he has the chance.

"Still," Kurt says. "It turned out a lot better than I expected."

Once Figgins announced there was another write-in winner, Kurt prepared himself to be crowned again. Except that hadn't happened and beyond a few glares shot their way, he had an awesome time dancing with his boyfriend at senior prom and taking pictures with as many of the dinosaurs as possible. Now that they've had an hour to relax and reflect, Kurt is this weird mix of satisfied and bitter.

"Clearly, William McKinley social functions can't handle our combined fabulousness," Blaine murmurs, rubbing his nose against Kurt's, "Next year, I might try the anti-prom thing again. But, y'know, with more planning ahead of time."

Kurt swats him gently on the shoulder. For something that was pretty much doomed from its miserable start, he thinks the anti-prom went well. He may be biased though, because anything that ends with him cuddling up to Blaine is a success in Kurt's eyes. He tells his boyfriend so, which makes Blaine let out a little huff of laughter, tickling Kurt's neck.

"Hey," Kurt says, smiling.

"Hey what?" Blaine asks, knowing the answer and grinning.

"Hey, I love you."

Kurt presses a kiss to Blaine's throat, the spot where his bow tie had rested a few hours before. Blaine swallows and Kurt feels it, along with the slight vibration of Blaine's throat when he speaks. "You love me despite seeing how insane my hair can be?"

"I love you because of how crazy your hair can be," Kurt corrects, tugging said hair lightly, "I love you because of everything you are."

It's quiet for a moment, because Kurt has gone back to kissing his boyfriend's neck, because he can feel the look Blaine is giving him. It's the one where Kurt can tell everything Blaine feels in a glance and, sometimes, all that emotion can be overwhelming. Finally, Blaine says, "Hey."

Kurt pulls back, playing with the buttons of Blaine's tuxedo jacket before undoing them. "Hey what?"

Blaine shrugs out of the jacket and Kurt can feel the warmth radiating from his body through his thin dress shirt. Gently, Blaine kisses his way down Kurt's face: starting with the center of his forehead, then quickly pecking the tip of Kurt's nose, ending with a lingering kiss on the mouth. Pulling back, Blaine is pleased to see that not only is Kurt blushing, but he's smiling. And crazy hair and everything else be damned, this moment outweighs all the terrible parts of prom by far.

"Hey," Blaine whispers, "I love you."

And when Kurt pulls him down for a kiss, hands sneaking up the back of Blaine's shirt, he means 'I know'.


	6. the one where there's street gangs

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything you recognize.

**A/N:** What if, instead of a sing off between two show choirs, _Bad _had been a meeting between the former and current leader of the Warblers street gang.) Trigger warnings for descriptions of blood and talk of dying

* * *

"Oh, _honey_," Santana says.

Blaine is lying on the pavement, a weak grin on his face and his hand clasped tightly in both of Kurt's. Even though Kurt tore his shirt for a make-shift bandage, the blood from the gunshot still stains Blaine's hands red.

"You've never called me that before," Blaine says, like he isn't bleeding out in an alleyway, "I like it."

No one should be this calm when their life is hanging on a precipice, Santana decides. It reads too much like acceptance and she'll be damned before she allows Blaine Anderson to die on her. Pulling out her pack of smokes, she clamps one between her teeth and shoves another into Kurt's mouth. He splutters but doesn't drop it.

"That's to keep you from crying like a fucking baby," Santana sneers and lights both of them up, "Now, if you don't want to be dressed like a widower for the rest of you life, help me get him into the car."

Kurt's eyes narrow, but he nods and hauls Blaine up, gingerly wrapping an arm around the other side. He's strong and, for all his muscle, Blaine is still a small guy, so Santana doesn't do any actual carrying. Still, she sticks close and opens the back door of the car so Blaine can stretch out in the backseat.

"Bleed on the upholstery and I'll kill you," Santana warns, sliding into her seat.

Blaine laughs for a little before it turns into wet coughing. Kurt, who's driving, hits the accelerator hard enough that Santana smells burnt rubber, but then they're off. When the coughing fit finally settles down, Santana asks Blaine what was so goddamn funny.

He points to where there's already a streak of blood on the seat, probably from when they first got him in. It's mostly dry already and is an ugly stain on the formerly pristine, white interior. Santana takes a long drag of her cigarette, blowing smoke out the window in a rush. She tells him, "Well, I guess I'll have to kill you know."

Blaine is sweaty and pale from the amount of blood he's lost and still losing, but when he smiles at her, he still lights up like the fucking Fourth of July. Sweetly, he reminds Santana, "Sebastian beat you to it."

Next to her, Kurt lets out a hysterical laugh and presses down even harder on the gas. If they make it to the hospital without being pulled over, it'll be a miracle. Blaine is laughing at his own joke in the backseat, quietly this time so he doesn't start to choke again.

As the city blurs all around her, Santana watches from the window and plans the slowest, most painful way to kill Sebastian Smythe.


	7. the one in kurt's apartment

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything you recognize.

**A/N: **Future!fic, because NYADA or not, Kurt Hummel is going to New York.

* * *

So, they make their way out of the air port eventually and get a cab back to Kurt's place.

The driver keeps giving them wary looks from the front seat as Kurt and Blaine talk over each other and laugh and keep kissing as much as possible. When the fare is finally paid, he looks happy to be rid of them.

Once Kurt manages to unlock the front door, he's pulling Blaine inside and kissing him on the foyer. Distance hasn't made either one of them any fonder of PDA, but with a door between them and the rest of the world, Kurt feels comfortable in opening his mouth and letting Blaine's tongue in. They kiss for a while and Kurt wants to moan, because god has he missed this, but he's a little embarrassed that after a year and a half of dating, Blaine can get him half hard from a few minutes of kissing.

"I am so crazy about you," Blaine says against Kurt's mouth, fingers secure in his boyfriend's belt loops.

"The feeling is mutual. That's why I'm inviting you to continue this in my actual apartment."

Blaine laughs against his throat, the sound that's rich and deep and a symphony to Kurt's ears. He tugs his boyfriend's hand lightly, towards the staircase, because he and Santana can't really afford a place with an elevator right now. They head up and stop twice to make out a little more, then Kurt is unlocking the door to apartment 7A and Blaine is going 'wow'.

It's not fabulous. Kurt has come to accept that fact and he loves the place in spite of it, but he's sure it's not what Blaine had in mind when he thought of a chic New York apartment. Besides Kurt and Santana's bedrooms, there is one bathroom, a kitchenette, and the foyer/living room/den that they're currently standing in. Kurt is starting to feel self-conscious about the sofa that they got hand-me-down from Santana's mom and then Blaine spins around and says, "I love it."

And it's so not what Kurt was expecting, but that doesn't mean he's not ecstatic to hear it. He takes Blaine's hand in his promising to give him the grand tour of the place. Blaine's response is enthusiastic, like they're touring Buckingham Palace instead of a shoebox of a place in one of the less glamorous parts of Manhattan. The kitchen is Kurt's source of pride and the bathroom is too small for a long speech, but he does take five minutes to bemoan the fact that Santana keeps her room as neat as Finn did.

Soon, they're waiting outside of Kurt's closed door. Blaine squeezes his hand and grins. "Time for the main event?"

"Prepare yourself for an overdose of fabulous," Kurt warns with a laugh.

The room, like everything else in the apartment, is tiny. Kurt's bed takes up most of the space, pressed up to the wall against the window and three paces away from the door. Blaine doesn't need to look in the closet to know that it's far too small for Kurt's liking. He sits down on the bed, bouncing lightly on the mattress as he looks around.

The walls are unpainted, but there's a cork board taking up the majority of one. On it is ticket stubs from movies, playbills from different shows, and pictures of Kurt and the people that matter most to him. There are some that he doesn't recognize (those are clearly Kurt's New York People) but Blaine feels his heart swell when he realizes that he's in a majority of the photos from back home.

"I see you like my Blaine Anderson shrine," Kurt says, sitting down next to him on the bed, "It's nothing compared to the picture folders on my laptop though."

Blaine allows Kurt to snake a hand around his waist, pulling him in closer. "How so?"

Kurt grins, slips a warm hand down Blaine's back only to sneak it back up underneath his tee shirt. "I take a disturbingly high number of screen shots when we Skype each other."

"You don't say," Blaine says, as if he doesn't do the same thing.

And Kurt doesn't say anything back, because his mouth is suddenly attached to Blaine's throat, biting and sucking in the ways he hasn't been able to in months. Blaine lets out a low moan and buries his hands in Kurt's hair. Fuck graduating in a few months, he'll drop out just so he can stay here forever.


	8. the one where they talk about drag

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything you recognize.

* * *

"Have you ever considered doing drag, Hummel?"

Santana is well on her way to wasted, with her own birthday bottle of wine half empty and held loosely in one hand as the other traces Kurt's cheekbone. Her eyes are sparkling and her mouth is lax, ruby red lipstick from earlier all but faded and her eyes nothing but smoky smudges. From where he's settled in her lap, Blaine thinks she looks like a fallen angel. Kurt, who is curled up at her side and petting Blaine's head gently, thinks he is not drunk enough for this conversation.

"I feel like this is the set up to a joke where either my sexuality or my bone structure is the punchline," Kurt says dryly, shrugging out of her touch.

Blaine butts his head against Kurt's palm, grinning. "You have 'mazing bone structure."

"You're drunk," Kurt replies, fondly.

"Doesn't mean he doesn't have a point," Santana slurs, touching Kurt's face again. For the past ten minutes, she's been obsessed with doing so: first tracing the curve of his lips and then the slope of his nose and the planes of his cheeks. Now, she's going over his brow line with her thumb, more gentle than he could ever imagine her to be. "You're really fucking pretty. If we slapped a pair of tits on you, I'd tap that."

"I get to tap that alllllll the time," Blaine sings, squirming happily.

Santana pulls herself away from Kurt in order to thump him on the chest. Even as he goes 'oof', Blaine is smiling up at her, because when he's drunk he loves any kind of affection he can get. That's why Kurt had been scratching his hair, it served as enough of a distraction that Blaine wouldn't go around and press messy kisses on anyone he could.

"Honey," Kurt says, sweetly, "If you don't shut up, you'll never be tapping this again."

Blaine zips his mouth shut, but after a few minutes he forgets what he's supposed to be doing and he starts to hum. By now, Santana has taken another swig of the wine and studies him carefully. She's a little scary when she gets like this: drunk, but completely quiet. Kurt almost thinks that he prefers the Santana who, half an hour ago, was weeping over how much it sucked that _Firefly_ had been cancelled. When she slumps forward and presses their foreheads together, Kurt lets out a breath he didn't know he was holding.

"Seriously. I know you weren't ready to put on a dress and shake it at Nationals, like, a billion years ago. But you gots a pretty face and a prettier voice and you could make some real bank if you wanted to. Y'know? I could be your manager and Blainers could be the bouncer."

"Blaine isn't mean enough to be a bouncer," Kurt says, "Look at him."

The man in question has sprawled himself out across their laps, face pressed against Santana's stomach with one of Kurt's arms held captive to his chest. His hair has long gone puffy and he's smiling in his sleep, drool at the corner of his mouth. It's ridiculous how the very sight of Blaine makes something warm bloom and spread in Kurt's chest, but that's love, isn't it?

Santana makes a face and mumbles something about lightweights. Kurt bites back a comment about how he's the only one among them who can handle his alcohol, because it's her birthday and he should at least make an attempt at being nice. Instead, he asks for more details about his future career as a drag superstar (Santana's words, not his.)

"We'd call it beauty and the bitch. Because you'll be smokin' and sassy and all the girlies will want to wear your dresses and all the boys will want to suck your dick and-"

"I only want Blaine to suck my dick," Kurt informs her and, once he realized what he's said, makes grabby hands for the wine. Because, in for a penny in for a pound, and god, it's not like Santana will remember any of this in the morning. She hands the bottle over and Kurt downs as much as he can in one big gulp and then says, "You never heard that, okay?"

"Heard what? That the evils of long standing monogamy has made it so you never want anyone to blow you but a guy who says things like 'gee whiz' unironically? Bitch, I'm forgetting that to save us both the embarrassment."

She snuggles closer to Kurt then, her breath coming in hot puffs of air against his neck. It tickles, but he lets her stay, because of year of sharing an apartment with her has taught him that a sleeping Santana is the happiest type of Santana. With the wine warm in his belly and two people he loves at his side, Kurt shuts his eyes and lets himself fall asleep too.


	9. the one with The Talk

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything you recognize.

**A/N: **This is a silly little ficlet, done for the prompt of Kurt and Blaine giving 'The Talk'.

* * *

They knew this day was going to come eventually. Kurt and Blaine had already have a long conversation about how they were going to explain _things_, they just thought they'd have a little more time until giving The Talk became necessary.

Still, they gather on the living room couch like a proper family, no one saying a word. Kurt had initially tried to flee, but Blaine had given him both sad eyes and a reminder that Kurt knew what he was signing up for when they brought another person into their home. Finally, after an unbearably painful silence, Blaine said, "We know this is awkward for you, but you have to understand that what we were doing is normal."

Kurt cleared his throat and, with a red face, added, "And even if it looked scary, the reason we do it is because we love each other and it makes us feel good. What feels good to us won't necessarily be good for you, but that's okay."

Blaine beamed at Kurt, glad to see him actually trying. Kurt returned the smile shyly, slipping his hand over Blaine's knee. Finn, who at this point had been sitting on the couch in sullen silence, jumped up.

"Hey! This is everyone's couch and you guys can do your weird spanking stuff in your room but not here. This is where we have movie night!"

He stormed off after that, clearly upset by the way he slammed the door to his room. Kurt and Blaine exchanged a look with each other and promptly burst out laughing, falling against each other easily until they were pressed together on the couch, cuddling close.

"Y'know," Blaine said, "That was pretty good practice for when our future kids walk in on us."

"Blaine Anderson, don't you dare say that!" Kurt scolded, "Our children will know better than to enter a room without knocking. I'm insulted you'd even suggest otherwise."

Blaine grinned, rolled over so his ass was in the air, and wiggled it. "Mm, this seems like a great opportunity to teach Finn that we can 'make each other feel good' outside of the bedroom."

Kurt swatted his bottom, more teasing than satisfying. Blaine faked a low, guttural moan anyway, making his boyfriend laugh quietly and Finn scream (still locked in his room), "I hate you both!"


	10. the one about shannon beiste

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything you recognize.

**A/N: **This was written immediatly after _Choke_, when I was afraid RIB would completely drop Beiste's storyline. **Trigger warnings for a character dealing with domestic abuse. **

* * *

Shannon Beiste goes back, because she wants to be loved.

To be loved seems like such an easy thing when she looks at Will and Emma or some of her students. They face problems, yes, but at the end of the day, they seem able to fix them with well-chosen songs and honest communication.

(If she were a bitter woman, she'd think about how they don't understand how lucky they are.)

She's doesn't feel bitter though, just defeated as she walks up the steps and back home. Cooter is waiting, all apologies and kisses.

Beiste accepts them and hates herself for it, but it's okay, because she has Cooter to love her.

x

She may spend most of her time with the football team, but that doesn't mean Beiste doesn't have an enormous soft spot in her heart for the glee girls.

They remind Beiste of herself: more than a little bit outcasted, but trying their damnedest to make the world take notice. All of them are so young and she desperately wants them to all achieve their dreams.

(And if she was a bitter woman, Shannon Beiste would remind herself how these girls are different from her, because they are all so pretty and pretty girls never seem to lose.)

She sits in the choir room and watches as they perform a song. And while she knows their hearts are in the right places, all it does is make Shannon feel broken and jagged inside.

Despite that, she thanks them for the effort.

x

Things are okay, after a while.

It's takes a week for Beiste to stop flinching whenever her husband reaches for her, whether it's to offer some gift he just happened to pick up after work or to hold her in bed at night.

After two weeks, everyone at the school is swept up in the excitement of prom and graduation. Sue and Roz are back at each others' throats and Emma is flustered by planning her rapidly approaching wedding.

Beiste allows herself to be swept up in the madness, because it's easier to help Brittany Pierce cut out paper dinosaurs and pick out flower combinations with Emma than bring up her own life.

"I can't wait until I can enjoy the married life like you do," Emma admits as they consider silk flowers for the wedding, because they've never been in contact with soil.

Beiste never told Emma everything, because Emma worries too much. As far as she knows, Beiste and Cooter had their first couple's spat but have since made up.

(And since she's not bitter, Beiste doesn't like to think about how no one found it important enough to tell Emma what she actually missed when she was out with a cold last week.)

Not knowing what to do, Beiste plays with the petals on a silk rose until it falls apart. And she's suddenly, awfully aware of her own massiveness and strength when Emma's small pick up the pieces.

"Hey, it's no big deal," Emma says, in her baby soft voice, "I know that you don't always realize how strong you really are, Shannon."

Except, as she weeps in the staff room over fake flowers, Beiste has never felt so weak.


	11. the one with bad boys

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything you recognize.

**A/N:** Badboy!Blaine coupled with Skank!Kurt, written as a warm up for a longer piece.

* * *

Here's the thing: Blaine has never been able to resist challenges.

At his old old school, he'd been part of the chess and soccer teams. He'd been good with the strategies the first needed and the physical skill the second demanded in order for him to make up for his small stature. Except, after Sadie Hawkins, he quit soccer and his friends from the chess team were afraid that he'd make them more of a target than they already were. Dalton didn't offer extracurricular activities beyond group therapy and the poorly staffed recreational hour.

Now that he's older, Blaine has no interest in hanging out with the underclassmen chess team and soccer seems like too much of a hassle. Except his parole officer and therapist both "strongly encouraged" him to be involved with his new school and his parents act like anything either one of them say is the word of God, so Blaine finds himself pushed towards the glee club by his overly friendly counselor. She even walks him to the room, a full three minutes before the bell is even supposed to ring, because she wants to _personally _introduce him to the other kids.

As she goes on about how her fiance is the one running the club, the sound of piano music floats out into the hallway. A worried look passes over her face and she steps in front of him like she wants to protect him from the mysterious piano player. Inside the classroom, there's two kids: a boy playing the piano as a girl is stretched across it, both of them singing a song that Blaine doesn't recognize.

"Kurt, Quinn," the counselor says cautiously, "You know you're not supposed to be in here unsupervised."

The music stops automatically and the kid playing turns around. He's got pink streaks in his hair and a heavy scowl on his face. His friend slides off the piano and picks up a bag from the floor, muttering something to him. The boy laughs and Blaine's stomach flips a little, because the sound is so clear and pretty. Still in front of him, the counseled makes a distressed sound and raises her hands. "If you really want to sing, both of you are welcome to rejoin the glee club! Mr. Shuester and I both think it'd be good for you two."

The girl rolls her eyes before pulling on sunglasses and the boy readjusts his jacket. It's leather and the studs on in reflect in the light. He looks a little like James Dean, pushing his way past the counselor and Blaine as he calls over his shoulder, "I think I speak for the both of us when I say we'd rather drop dead."

Watching them leave, Blaine can't help but smile a little. He's found his challenge at this school after all.


	12. the one where quinn and blaine bond

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything you recognize.

**A/N:** Written for a _Blangst Prompt of the Day, _which asked to show Blaine and Quinn bonding. There's some brief discussion of infidelity, so be warned.

* * *

They become friends because of AP Literature.

Sure, Quinn and Blaine knew each other because they both knew Kurt and, later on, because of Blaine's transfer, but it's their shared fourth hour AP Lit class that sparks the friendship. Blaine joins the class a few days into the school year, knowing he doesn't have it with Kurt and dreading the idea of having all his classes with the strangers of McKinley. The teacher doesn't seem to listen whenever he makes a point, because he's only a junior. For an AP class, it isn't challenging and Blaine feels insulted when he's told to partner up with someone for every project.

Quinn is the only person he even vaguely knows in the class and she smiles kindly, gesturing him over. Trying not to seem like he's throwing a tantrum, Blaine gathers up his books and slinks to the desk next to her. He's very much aware of his classmate's eyes on him, because he gets to work with the girl who is almost guaranteed a spot as valedictorian while they have to work on their own. (Blaine doesn't really see a packet on symbolism as something that requires partner work, but.)

"You really don't need to help me," Blaine mumbles, pulling out his notebook, "I like this book and I've read it a million times."

Quinn smiles at him, teeth perfect and white. She's ditched the bad girl look and is back to wearing sundresses with cardigans, and he thinks that the style suits her better. Except, maybe not, because the next thing out of her mouth stuns Blaine.

"Good, because I've only done the spark notes. I hate _A Scarlet Letter_. Hester Prynne deserves what she got, I don't know why everyone likes her so much."

Here's the thing: even if he's only been at the school for a few weeks, Blaine is dating Kurt and, therefore, is privy to all the New Directions gossip. He's also, like, ridiculously good at reading other people's emotions. Right now, Quinn is picking at the sleeve of her sweater, not looking at him and definitely not looking at the notes he's offered up. She's read the book alright and, if Blaine's ability to read between the lines is worth a damn, she's identifying with the protagonists.

"What I, personally, like about Hester is that she tries to make the best of what she did. She doesn't deny that she had a baby, just sees it as a reason to try harder and be a better person in spite of it."

Quinn looks at him sharply, pretty smile completely gone. It makes Blaine recoil internally, reminding him about the message their Lit teacher has crammed down their ever since they did _Hamlet _at the very beginning of the year: 'appearance differs drastically from reality'. From Kurt's stories, Blaine knows that Quinn Fabray is not afraid to be ruthless, but that doesn't mean she likes to be called on it.

"The baby isn't the sin though, adultery is. The baby is only evidence," Quinn smiles at him, all teeth, "A scarlet letter."

Here's the thing about Blaine: while he isn't a direct product of adultery, he knows his mom used to be his dad's mistress before they got married. It's not something either one of his parents told him, but Cooper did reveal it once, when they were in a fight. Blaine isn't really sure if his mom knows he knows and he doesn't want to break her heart by telling her. Anyway. Being in the weird position of a not quite child of sin, Blaine views adultery in a very warped way. On one hand, he thinks it's inexcusable in real life, but on the other hand, he ignores any description given and imagines his mom as Hester. (Yes, it's fucked up. Yes, he knows.)

So, instead of opening up a whole knew can of worms, Blaine just smiles pleasantly at Quinn and says, "Are you sure you didn't read the book?"

The girl flushes. They're just reviewing before the test over the novel, but the required reading had been assigned when Quinn was still hanging around with the 'bad' girls. (Blaine refuses to say the word 'skank', even in his mind, because his mother raised him better.) So, while Blaine was successfully predicting Pearl's father in the first chapter, Quinn was either skipping class to smoke or scowling at him. Blaine scoots in closer and asks, "Want to compare notes? I promise not to let it leak that you actually took them."

Quinn doesn't quite smile like that, but she does pull out her notebook. It's pink and has the course name written on the front in neat cursive. Inside, the handwriting is just as nice, but the notes are sparse for the section. There's not much symbolism and more character analysis, along with the name 'Beth' written several different ways. Blaine looks at her strangely and asks, "Who's Beth?"

Flipping the page roughly, Quinn tears part of the perforated edge. She doesn't seem upset, but her eyes are suddenly far away. "Beth is my baby."

And Blaine feels really, really stupid. Because who else would Beth be, with Quinn's obvious issues with _A Scarlet Letter_? His details on babygate post-birth are fuzzy, because they came second hand from Kurt. Still, he reaches across the desks to give Quinn's hand an awkward pat. She doesn't react, just keeps staring down at her notebook like he doesn't exist. It's unnerving.

"Hester would do anything to keep Pearl safe, wouldn't she?" Quinn asks after what seems like forever, voice detached.

Even though she still isn't looking at him, Blaine nods. He has more than a sneaking suspicion that they're not really talking about the protagonists of classic literature anymore. "Her devotion is what makes her a good mom. Even if she doesn't understand Pearl, Hester loves her daughter.'

"Right," Quinn says.

And all Blaine can do is echo. "Right."


	13. the one all about origins

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything you recognize.

**A/N:** Superhero!AU. I have other, stupider drabbles for this universe.

* * *

"Heroes are supposed to have origin stories," Blaine says, flopping unhappily onto the bed.

Kurt lets out a heavy sigh, because he's listened to this rant a hundred times in the past few weeks, but still gets up from the desk to sit next to Blaine. Immediately, the other boy scoots so his head is in Kurt's lap, looking up at him expectantly. Holding back another sigh, Kurt murmurs under his breath to vanish away the gel and starts petting Blaine's hair.

"Finn and Santana are mutants. Puck got his powers after he mistook toxic waste for a dirty swimming pool. You're magic was an inheritance from your mom. And now Sam is apparently part mermaid or something."

"Not a mermaid!" Sam says as he passes by Kurt's open door, "Descendent of a nereid."

Kurt shoots him a glare, but it's too late, Blaine jumping from the bed in order to pace the floor. The whole "origin story" thing was never an issue when they were both undercover at Dalton, but the minute Blaine transferred, he became obsessed with how everyone in New Directions seemed to have some kind of back story explaining their powers. Since he's lacking in one, Blaine seems to think it makes his own abilities less impression.

"Honey," Kurt calls, not moving from the bed, "Remember how you stopped that derailed train last week? You saved hundreds of lives _and_ helped Artie use the scrap metal to make Sugar a super suit."

"Sugar," Blaine repeats, throwing his hands up in the air, "Even Sugar has an origin story! She's Tony Stark's illegitimate daughter!"

Rolling his eyes, Kurt decides that enough is enough. He crosses the room and grabs onto Blaine's shoulders, making sure that his boyfriend is looking him in the eye.

"That's just a rumor that _Sugar_ started. And even if it wasn't, it doesn't affect the kind of hero you are. Not everyone needs an insane origin story, Blaine."

The other boy looks down, eyes clearly full of disappointment. Kurt tilts Blaine's jaw so they can kiss, quick and reassuring. It'd be all too easy to use a spell to cheer Blaine up, but they promised early on in their relationship not to abuse their powers that way. "Tell me how we met, Blaine Anderson."

"Dalton," Blaine replies, sounding confused.

Kurt nods. "And what is Dalton, exactly?"

"A training academy for the children of super-villains."

Kurt smiles at that, remembering back to when he had been sent to Dalton as a spy and had an existential crisis over the fact that he'd fallen in love with some crook. Of course, Blaine turned out to be a spy himself and, after some truly embarrassing misuse of serenading during battles, they'd gotten together. He reminds his boyfriend of this, loving the way Blaine's eyes widen slightly before a grin splits his face. "Kurt!"

"Yes?"

"I totally have an origin story! I'm the double agent who did the heel face turn for love."

Even though they said their first I-love-yous months ago, that doesn't keep Kurt's heart from racing a little. Blaine pulls him into a tight hug, saying, "I totally have the best origin story. God, I can't wait to see the look on Finn's face when I tell him."

"Mm, how about instead running off to my brother, I magic us somewhere nice to relax until you have to head out for night patrol."

Immediately, Blaine agrees that Kurt has the better idea. Pulling Blaine closer than strictly necessary, Kurt calls out that they'll be back later and teleports them away with a bang.


	14. the one with the circus

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything you recognize.

**A/N:** Warm up for another fic I'm working on, circus!AU.

* * *

The first time the circus comes to town, Blaine is six.

One day, Dad came home and announced that he had tickets for them all to go, spinning Mom around the room and kissing her as Blaine and his brother ran around them in circles, cheering. On the drive over, Cooper had even let Blaine play with his gameboy a little, giving him tips on how to become a pokemon master and not being at all bossy. Dad boosted Blaine onto his shoulders so he could see over the crowd of people at the animals and Mom bought him a huge cotton candy to distract Blaine from the fact that he was too small for most of the rides and games.

By the time that it started to get dark out, Blaine was half asleep on Mom's hip, stirring only when she sat him down on a wooden bench. Next to him, Cooper was wriggling in his seat. At twelve years old, he did not think himself too cool to be at the circus and kept leaning over to tell Blaine that the best part was about to come. Blaine usually took everything his older brother said as law, but still pressed himself into his mom's side, tired from the long day and the fact it was past his bedtime.

Just as he was about to fall asleep, an enormous boom shook Blaine awake and, in his hurry to see what was going on, he missed the ringmaster's entrance. It must of been something special, because the rest of his family was cheering as a man in a bright red suit and top hat bowed to the audience. He welcomed them briefly, then stepped aside and let the show begin.

A parade of performances followed: jugglers and clowns and acrobats and even a fire swallower. Blaine watched them all with wide eyes, wanting desperately to ask his parents if these people were superheroes, but each time he got close, something even more amazing would happen. After a magician vanished his assistant _and _himself out of the main floor, the ringmaster came back, hat pressed to his heart.

"Friends, I'm afraid that it's getting late."

Cooper let out a loud groan and Blaine copied him, causing Mom to turn and shush them both. The ringmaster kept holding the hat to his chest, frowning as he nodded towards them.

"I'll be sad to see you all go and hope you'll miss us just as much," the ringmaster said, "But, please, don't let that keep you from enjoying our final event: The High Flying Eliza!"

The crowd cheered wildly as the spotlight pulled away from the ringmaster and up into the air. On top of an impossibly high platform was a lady wearing what looked like sparkly swimsuit, smiling wide and waving to the crowd. When the applause died down, she turned away from the audience and threw herself into the air.

Blaine couldn't help but scream, because he thought the lady was going to fall and the net below her didn't look that strong and Cooper was hissing for him to shut up just as the lady seemed to stop mid air. As the audience went wild, Dad leaned in and explained that there were bars and ropes for the woman to keep herself up on. This calmed Blaine enough that he could watch the rest of the show without screaming again, but it still made him a little nervous to think of someone falling from so high up.

After the woman had done numerous flips and swings around the bar, she returned to the little platform and waved again. Without coming out, the ringmaster's voice boomed out to the audience, "And for her final trick, The High Flying Eliza will be assisted by our littlest performer: Kurt the Boy Wonder!"

The spotlight on Eliza dimmed a little and another one appeared on the other side of the tent. There was a boy about Blaine's age standing on another platform, looking shy as he waved to the crowd. Blaine heard Mom whisper to Dad about 'children being used', but then the drum roll started and she grabbed Blaine's hand, squeezing it tightly.

The drums were still going when Kurt the Boy Wonder threw himself off the platform, sailing high in the air as the crowd gasped. Blaine buried his face in his mom's side again, afraid to watch the boy fall. A second later, Cooper jumped to his feet and started cheering, making Blaine glance up in time to see The Flying Eliza holding tight to Kurt the Boy Wonder's arms, knees bent over the bar from earlier. They were both grinning at each other as the lights went out on them and the ringmaster came out to say goodbye.

Dad carried him back to the car and Cooper talked the whole way home, but that didn't keep Blaine from falling asleep during the drive back. He didn't wake up until Mom was tucking him into bed, kissing his forehead and asking if he had fun. Yawning hugely, Blaine snuggled into his pillow and confidently told her, "It was the best day ever."


	15. the one where they make promises

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything you recognize.

**A/N: **I am trying to stay spoiler free for S4! This is pure speculation, please don't tell me if I'm right or wrong either way.

* * *

"You still awake?" Kurt asks, voice sleepy from where he's got his face pressed into the crook of Blaine's neck.

It's two in the morning and the movie credits are starting to roll on screen. They'd started _Gone With the Wind _(the longest movie they could think of) to help lull them to sleep, but between the pillow fight that started at the same time as the picnic at Twelve Oaks and the make out session as Atlanta burned on screen, they were both wide awake for the first act. Sometime around Rhett and Scarlet's marriage, Kurt has snuggled against Blaine's back and stayed there, not saying a word until now. Blaine briefly considers pretending that he's not awake so Kurt will go to sleep, but then Kurt presses a kiss to the back of his neck and Blaine turns around in his arms, smiling.

"Hey," Blaine says, leaning in so he can press a quick kiss to Kurt's mouth, "I thought you fell asleep."

"Too nervous. Tomorrow's the big day and all."

And there's the elephant that's been lurking in the room: Kurt leaves for New York in the morning. That's the whole reason that Blaine is allowed to sleep in Kurt's room instead of on the fold out downstairs, something he hasn't been able to do since they've started dating. It's also the reason Kurt chews on his bottom lip nervously and keeps his eyes downcast as he runs a hand absentmindedly up and down Blaine's side. Blaine savors the touch, curling his body closer to Kurt and tangling their legs as he asks, "What's wrong?"

Kurt swallows once, eyes seeking out Blaine's. It's strange, because Blaine has spent almost two years memorized by Kurt's eyes and he's never seen them filled with so much fear and excitement. He touches Kurt's cheek gently, liking how it feels to have the muscles in Kurt's face shift as he smiles. "Just. I'm going away and it's your senior year and it's going to be so amazing. I don't want you to forget me."

Blaine wants to laugh, because Kurt is the one going off to an incredible life in New York City and he's afraid that Blaine will forget him. Except. Except he could never laugh at the tremble in Kurt's voice or the way he looks away when he's afraid of what he's saying. Blaine can feel his own eyes watering when he goes, "Oh, _Kurt_."

And then, they're kissing. It's fast and desperate and hands grabbing at hair and pajama shirts and whatever else they can reach, like they're trying to climb into one another. There are tears too, but Blaine isn't sure which one of them started to cry first, just knows that when the kiss breaks, there's stains on both their cheeks and Kurt's pillows. He laughs, watery and weak, and swipes his thumb at Blaine's eyes, ignoring the tears that cling to his own eyelashes.

"Look at us," he says, cradling Blaine's cheek, "We're just a hot mess."

Blaine turns to press a kiss to his palm, humming. "I wouldn't have it any other way. Even when we're old and you're only leaving me to accept your Lifetime Achievement Tony, I'll be crying because, if you're not in kissing distance, you're too far away from me."

"I love you," Kurt says, voice swelling with emotion that seems far too big for the space between them.

The way they feel for each other is enormous, too much for Lima or all of Ohio. Maybe stretching it across state lines for a little bit will make it so whenever Kurt looks at him, Blaine doesn't feel like his chest is about to explode from the sheer amount of things he's feeling. On one hand, it seems like a nice way to justify almost a year away from Kurt. On the other, Blaine wouldn't trade the way he feels for Kurt for anything in the world. He tells him all nice, voice going from watery to determined, Kurt's grip on his jaw only leading him on.

When he finishes, Blaine realizes that he's done more than his share of rambling, so he leans in to kiss Kurt again. It's short and sweet and, when it's finished, he says, "I love you, too. And, for the record, there's no way I'm going to forget about you. You're stuck with me for life, Kurt Hummel."


	16. the one without stars

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything you recognize.

**A/N: **I am trying to stay spoiler free for S4! Please don't include spoilers in any messages/comments.

* * *

Rachel is always drunk when she calls at two in morning, all quiet and scared like if she talks to loudly, it would break something. Sometimes, Quinn wants to just hang up or tell Rachel to talk to one of her New York friends instead, but then the other girl does makes this little sniffling sound and Quinn can't bare the thought of here crying.

So, it's the middle of the night and Quinn is curled up in a comforter in her dorm's common room, listening. The conversation meanders all over the place, because Rachel does most of the talking as Quinn offers half-hearted murmurs for responses. Rachel's classes are going well, but she's homesick and too stubborn to admit it to her fathers. Quinn reminds her that Thanksgiving break is coming up soon and Rachel does the awful sniffling thing.

"Quinn," Rachel says, clearly despaired, "I can't see the stars from here."

She doesn't want Rachel to hate the city, because it had been her dream for so long and Quinn knows too much about dreams going wrong to wish that on anyone. Without really thinking about it, one of her hands drift down to touch her belly. The silence only seems to distress Rachel, who goes on.

"I didn't think I'd ever miss Ohio, but I miss the stars and my dads taught me all the constellations when I was little and there are kids here who don't know what the Big Dipper is and that's so _sad_."

"It is sad," Quinn agrees, "But do you know why you can't see the stars?"

Rachel babbles on about light pollution, but most of it is hard to understand, because somewhere along the lines, she starts to cry. When she runs out of steam and making weak, defeated sounds into the line, Quinn fights the urge to jump onto the Metro. Instead, she sings into the reciever, cooing out lullabies until Rachel settles down.

"The reason you can't see the stars at New York," Quinn finally says, fondness clear in her voice, "Is because you're outshining them all."

Rachel makes a sound that's half-sob, half-squeal. "I love you, Quinn Fabray."

She smiles, ignoring the RA that's advancing on her. "I love you too, Rachel Berry."


	17. the one where blaine goes to the circus

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything you recognize.

**A/N: **I am trying to stay spoiler free for S4! Please don't include spoilers in any messages/comments. This was originally written for Klaine AU Fridays and I wanted to expand it, but the last episode killed that urge.

* * *

At fifteen, Blaine Anderson feels like it's more than a little sad that he's riding the Ferris wheel by himself. The cast may be gone from his wrist, and what scars he has are easy to hide, but that doesn't change the fact that everyone knows him as the gay kid who got beat up at the Sadie Hawkins dance, spent weeks in the hospital, and then never came back to school. He didn't have a ton of friends to start with, but now with a target painted on his back, Blaine has spent the summer completely by himself.

He has always loved that his town's week-long summer festival included a proper circus. In one afternoon, rides and games and animal cages spring up in the middle of the park. There's even a big top tent set up in the middle, housing all the variety shows that play throughout the day. One of Blaine's earliest memories is of the carnival: him and Cooper squeezed between their parents as a trapeze artist sailed through the air above their heads. It's the happiest Blaine can remember his family being.

Now, Cooper is in college, Dad is on a business trip, and Mom became an activist after the attack, so Blaine is riding the Ferris wheel by himself and feeling like the biggest loser in the world. When the ride is over, he decides to check what show is playing later tonight, because if it's something good, he might be able to convince his parents to come out with him. There are no showtimes listed in front of the big top, and there's no audience lined up, but Blaine can hear music inside, so he goes in.

At first, it seems like someone is just blaring the Wicked soundtrack in the empty tent. There's no one in the stands and, other than a small stereo, the performance space is empty. Blaine is about to leave, but then someone yells, "What are you doing in here?"

Blaine looks up and can't actually believe what he's seeing. A boy is hanging upside down from the trapeze bar: one knee tucked around a rope and his other leg stretched behind him. His whole body forms an arch and, even from the ground, his eyes are a stunning shade of blue. When Blaine doesn't immediately answer, the boy flips himself over the bar and lets go. Rushing forward as he lets out a strangled shout, Blaine feels dumb when he realizes there was a net the whole time.

The boy gives him a strange look, climbing out of the net. There are a few feet between them and Blaine's mouth is going dry, because he suddenly can't remember why he came into the tent and he can't help but think the other boy is beautiful, so he sticks out his hand awkwardly and says, "I'm Blaine."

"Kurt."

His hands are calloused but warm when he shakes Blaine's hand, and there's something in Kurt's smile that makes Blaine's stomach twist sharply. After a moment, he realizes that their arms have stopped moving and they're just holding hands. Blaine feels like his collar is suddenly too tight, pulling away with a jerk and asking, "So, you're an acrobat with the circus?"

"My first solo show is tonight, so I wanted to practice," Kurt explains, nodding towards the bar, "I used to do some trapeze with my mom, but she died when I was little."

He must catch the way Blaine looks up at the tight rope in horror, because Kurt's still smiling, but it's sad now. It makes Blaine feels guilty and he tries to explain, "I wasn't-"

"Everyone always thinks that, don't worry. She didn't fall or anything, she just got sick."

Blaine desperately wants to say something comforting, but his mind is a total blank. Kurt saves him though, shaking himself lightly and asking if Blaine is coming to the show tonight. And Blaine may not be an expert at romance or relationships, but he's learned enough from teen dramas to know that when a beautiful boy asks you somewhere, you immediately say yes. So, that's what Blaine does and Kurt's smile seems to brighten because of it.

"Great! It starts at seven, but Friday crowds are huge. I'd buy a ticket early, if you can," Kurt starts to talk about the other acts in the show, but Blaine can't really focus on anything but how fast his heart is pounding.

Finally, Kurt pauses to take a breath, Blaine blurts out, "Do you want to ride the Ferris wheel with me?"

Once he's said it, Blaine is a little horrified by the fact he even asked. Kurt is part of the circus and clearly grew up with it. He's probably ridden the Ferris wheel so many times that he has to be sick of it and, even if he isn't, the only ride that screams 'romantic cliche' more than a Ferris wheel would be a Tunnel of Love. Still, Kurt tilts his head like he didn't hear right, touching the back of his neck quickly.

"I need to clean up here, but sure," he finally says, sounding a little breathless, "That would be great."


	18. the one that takes place in the icu

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything you recognize.

**Warning: **References to a canon hate crime, accidental outing, and description of serious injuries.

**A/N: **I am trying to stay spoiler free for S4! Please don't include spoilers in any messages/comments.

* * *

When he hears that his little brother is in the hospital, Cooper catches the first flight he can back home. Still, as he rushes through LAX to get to his red eye flight and then rides into the sunrise in a dinky rental car all the way back to Westerville, he's terrified that he'll be too late. It had been Maria who called him at eight, voice shaking as she explained that Blaine was in a coma. Cooper has never heard his stepmother so afraid in his life and as he struggles to find a spot in the crowded parking lot, his chest is tight.

The nurses are nice to him, which is something. He's directed to the ICU waiting room, where Dad is slumped in a chair, face buried in his hands. Cooper is afraid to even breathe, but then Dad looks up and catches his eye and suddenly they're struggling to support each other. Vaguely aware that he's tearing up, Cooper shivers when Dad lets out a low, defeated groan in his ear. "You came."

"He's my brother," Cooper replies, throat tightening, "Where's Maria?"

"There's a cot in there, so the family doesn't have to leave just in case-"

Dad chokes before he can finish, burying his face in Cooper's neck. It feels so bizarre to be the strong one. How many scraped knees did his father kiss growing up? How many accumulated for this to be a fair trade? No son should have to bear his father's grief, no one should get a call that their kid brother might be dying, no kid should be beat up for going to a fucking dance.

"Can I see him?" Cooper asks, voice sounding foreign and detached even to his own ears.

Nodding, Dad composes himself: wiping his eyes and bringing his face back to the emotionless mask that Cooper hated so much when he was a teenager. Settling a heavy hand onto his son shoulder's, he shows Cooper the gown and glove combo that they have to wear to enter the ICU. The latex reminds Cooper of a background part he did on medical show (scrub nurse, got to make a saucy comment only to be shot down) and he wants to throw up, but doesn't, just makes a little choking sound and forces a nervous smile when a nurse with sad eyes buzzes them in.

Blaine looks awful. He's hooked up to a half dozen machines, body still as death and broken. There's a cast on his arm and bandages on his face, but they do nothing to hide the fact that he's swollen and discolored. There's a strip of gauze wrapped so tight that there's no way they didn't shave his head and, god, Blaine has hated having his hair cropped close every since he was little but he didn't always brush it and that's why Cooper suggested gel. And, then, suddenly, Cooper notices that there's this mechanical hiss going in time with the rise and fall of Blaine's chest. He's on a ventilator, as in, not able to breath on his own and Cooper reaches out to gingerly touch the uncasted hand, withdrawing when he realizes how warm it is.

"The doctor says he's not waking up because of the head injuries, but they're optimistic," Dad says, voice going soft as he smooths down the bedsheet, not touching Blaine.

Cooper clenches his fists, hating the little squeak of latex, and asks, "Did they catch the guys who did it?"

"I...I don't know. One of Blaine's friends was attacked too, but everyone the police interviewed said that it was just a random thing-"

"Bullshit," Cooper spits, spinning around, "That's bullshit and you know it. This was because he's gay, Dad!"

And there's this moment, right before the nurse comes in and asks him to step out, because they can't have yelling in the ICU, where Dad's eyes widen and his mouth drops open. There's an immediate sinking feeling in Cooper's stomach as he realizes _Blaine hasn't told them_. When Blaine came out to him over Christmas, Cooper had just assumed that their parents already knew, because how could they not? Except as they're pulling off their scrubs and stuffing them into the bin, Dad is moving slow, like a man just brought back to life.

"Blaine's gay?" he finally asks, voice hushed and just a little horrified.

Cooper hates him for the question, but hates himself even more for outing his little brother when Blaine can't even wake up and kick his ass. He doesn't say anything, but that's answer enough for Dad, who sinks back into a chair once they're to the waiting room, staring blankly at the wall across from him. This grief is a different kind and Cooper honestly doesn't have the patience for it right now, so pours himself a cup of shitty hospital coffee and decides to find the gift shop. When Blaine comes too, he's gonna have one hell of a card waiting for him.


	19. the one about moving on

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything you recognize.

**A/N: **I am trying to stay spoiler free for S4! Please don't include spoilers in any messages/comments.

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Kurt's making tea when someone hooks their chin over his shoulder, pressing a kiss to his jaw and blowing a raspberry. He spins around to remind Santana about personal boundaries, but it's Adam who's smiling and trailing his hands down Kurt's sides. It tickles, but that's not why Kurt inhales sharply before saying, "I didn't hear you get out of the shower."

"I only just toweled off and grabbed some pajamas. That's okay, right?"

It _is_ okay, really. Except out of all the sweatshirts Adam could have grabbed, he picked the Dalton hoodie that Kurt usually keeps tucked in the back of his dresser. It's silly, because Kurt was the one who bought and wore it until it got too tight in the shoulders, but he still thinks of it as Blaine's. Before leaving for New York, Kurt had given it to him, only to have it returned in one of the post-break up packages.

Honestly, Kurt forgot he even had it until now; sinking his hands into the pocket and pulling Adam in a little closer. Adam smells fresh and clean, so Kurt closes his eyes and kisses him on the mouth. Kissing Adam is always soft as if he's afraid that if he pushes to hard Kurt will fall to pieces or run away. So, bites the other man's lip, holding on to it for a few seconds before Adam pulls away with wide, blue eyes.

"It suits you," Kurt assures, then the kettle is whistling and he smiles before turning to fill their mugs.


End file.
